Saving America.. One community at a Time..

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Saving America.. One community at a Time
By Dan Stark 5-5-2009

As a Middle Class (or was at least for a while) college educated Kansas native and being raised in a southeastern Kansas community of Independence, Ks that has history that reads like “Gone with the wind”, “State Fair”, “The Great Gatsby”, “Bus Stop” and my favorite.. “The rise and Fall of Rome”, it has occurred to me more than once that nothing really does change.. Just the faces!

Independence as it turns out grew from nothing to a city that generated more millionaires per capita during a short 10-year period in the early 1900s. Why a small community could do this is the lesson we all need to learn. It was all based around cheap energy, natural resources and transportation.

Oil was discovered at 600ft, and natural gas was so abundant that they just let it burn off.
Plenty of water and several railroads crisscrossed the community. The conditions were right for just about any kind of manufacturing business that needed fuel for heat, water for process and methods to ship with. It was The Home of Sinclair Oil (ARCO) and the start of Phillips Oil and many others.

More important here is that the abundance of cheap and plentiful energy generated more jobs and “lured in so many entrepreneurs” trying to take advantage of the cheap energy.
All the ingredients were there. There were people that were so rich and arrogant one in particular lived out to the east of town about 5 miles, decided that the railroad would build a spur to his plantation because of his importance and location. So he built a nice train depot to show the railroad his good faith and importance. This Depot location was at that time a small plantation, grinding mill and county park. You know.. Horse racing, gaming and special occasion events what was at that time along the old Osage Indian trails not far from one of the original 3 trading post in Montgomery County.

The depot and the arrogant families house to this day still stands, but the railroad never came.

People, as well as the lessons they have learned in life about any given thing, do on a regular basis go to their grave taking with them all of the same. That is of course unless they have taken measure to leave some kind of mark or memorable gesture to warn, educate or enlighten those who are next in line in this human chain of life.

Trouble is we haven’t been doing much of the leaving behind lately.. Unless you are talking about debt, habits of consumption and generally lax management styles that lead to out of control greed and incompetence.

T Boon Pickens it seems has actually earned his right to be called wealthy. But the one thing that attracts me most to T Boon Pickens is his honest entrepreneurial approach to patriotism and what will happen to his hard work if he doesn’t create alarm and insists on change to insure the next generation of FREE Americans!

It is not the purpose of this presentation to honor or pet T Boons ego. He doesn’t need that anyway! It is however, purposed to reinforce and agree with his direction with some reservations and corrections in his approach. He certainly has the right plan.. if we want our freedoms preserved! Foreign Suppliers of energy are very close to doing what that trusted Nebraska financial institution did to me, just because they can.

Trouble is, I am not sure we as America can just pay the foreign outsourced energy sources off and or just use our own energy resources.. We are not ready!

If that happens, and it could at any time, I believe we will be slaves to the energy needs we ourselves have created! I sometimes wonder who it is that is making some of the life changing laws, energy decisions and outsourcing our jobs! Didn’t we elect these fools? Why is it we have to beg them to take care of us in the not so rich group of Americans?

People in the blue collar class.. Are frightened! Including me! And the Washington academic elite has no idea of magnitude or realities at the grass roots level.
When this same Washington academic elite discovered recently that the ammunitions supplies were being bought and stock piled at enormous rates.. They were confused!
It had to be something that threatened the Washington Elite.. But wait, isn’t it the Washington academic elite that is supposed to be working for the people?
To secure the American way and to be certain the USA is solvent and supplied well with all necessary means to do the same?

If they did.. There would be no need for alarm or lobbyist. The fear is that the American public.. not the far right.. has real concerns about who is running the show!

So why is the Washington academic elite that is supposed to be working for the people alarmed?? Who does your elected and appointed representatives really work for, you, the bureaucrats Or the highest bidder?

Observation, research and debate will usually provide many alternative choices for solving any problem. “On a level playing field even a blind hog can eventually dig up an acorn”. But what if it isn’t a level or fair playing field. These days, most of the thinking population has already come to the conclusion that the field isn’t anywhere near level or fair. We in the thinking population have all come to the conclusion it is time to “castle Up” . A term used for creating that last important high wall defense for defending against what is most probably coming down the track.. Straight at you!

Be careful.. it is the headlight of a train of events threatening your right to a middle class lifestyle and even your human right of a comfortable existence!

If you haven’t seen that headlight steaming down this track straight at you.. aiming for you, your children’s future and even your right to control your very own USA constitutional rights.. Then you are either blind, deaf to the noise around you or you have been consumed by the media distractions that seemingly are paid to misdirect, misinform and promote agendas for the “Worlds powers to be”. Money talks! Philosophy walks! Fears drive the herds and Managers shear / harvest the human flocks repeatedly!

Let me explain this in more common terms.

In April of 2009, I received a letter from a prominent Nebraska financial institution that I had partnered with for many years. On the credit card I used with them I had accumulated 70,000 air miles credits.. (That is a lot of business transactions). Now mind you I was carrying a $15,000 dollar balance on the card.. Probably a little high but I had never missed a payment, never been late and my credit score was in the high 780 (which is excellent).

Out of the blue for no reason that has ever been explained to me other than what was printed in the announcement, The financial institution that I previously had full faith in decided to include me in a program that raised the interest rate on that account to 17% .
I guess I looked to be a great target for profit taking. This was almost a 4% increase from an already to high rate that I didn’t like.. But they had never done anything stupid in the past and the credit line was acceptable. Why raise the rates now, And Why Me?

Because they could! And they did! I immediately paid off the account.. But didn’t close it! I wanted them to see the account info and the lack of activity from this date forward.. So they will know and understand they have hurt there steady business from an old customer and that they are not playing with 4 year olds!

When it comes to old reliable sources we use every day, it seems we need to take care!

My next installment of this reasoning will, should it be allowed, be using this history and explanation as a foundation, start laying out reasons that perhaps we (at least in the state of Kansas) should learn from our past history. We have wind in the western part of state. We have natural gas in several areas. We still pump some oil from those shallow wells but not as much. We have plenty of water in the Eastern part of the state. Our highways are some of the best and rails run everywhere!

Now the big money wants to build Coal plants and ship the energy out to everywhere else. Somehow I thought it was Kansas that needed the jobs, reasonable costing energy and tax income! Then why are we not creating the solutions right here in Kansas?
WE HAVE all the resources! Why isn’t the Kansas or other state governments taking lead with there own energy plans?? Why? They do as they are told! But ask yourself Who Is telling them?

Think this over and the light bulb will come on!